School security becoming a growth market

adjacent to classroom doors, reinforced interior walls and landscaping that serves as a barrier outside the building. Other schools have raised money by issuing bonds and, in the case of Terry Shaw, the superintendent of the school district in Healdton, Okla., running a marathon to earn sponsorships from businesses.

Shaw’s district, in the heart of tornado country, initially spent more than US$100,000 installing seven shelters in the elementary school to protect students from windstorms.

Last year, two more shelters were added to the middle school, where they are meant to double as hideouts if there is a shooting. The district website links to a video in which Shaw tests a shelter by sitting inside while its exterior is pummeled by semiautomatic gunfire.

“We’re left making those critical decisions on how best to protect our students,” he said. “Each school district’s different, and there are so many issues you start getting into that it’s hard to have a single set of guidelines.”

A few days after the shooting in Parkland, school officials one county over, in Miami-Dade, drew up a long wish list of campus security measures.

The school district, the fourth largest in the country, currently receives US$9.5 million from Florida to keep its campuses safe. But now the superintendent, school board chairwoman, mayor and other leaders are asking for an additional US$30 million for “qualified human resources, artificial intelligence and technology based strategies,” according to a letter sent to state lawmakers last month.

Miami-Dade’s plan includes video surveillance networks, automatically locking doors, digital floor plans, broad mass communications systems and ballistics-resistant windows. The county also wants more school resources officers and mental health services.

Last week, Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, a Republican, spoke about the need to fund school safety programs.

“We’ve got to invest in metal detectors, we’ve got to invest in bulletproof glass, we’ve got to invest in steel doors, we’ve got to invest in upgraded locks,” he said. “We’ve got to do everything we can to make sure that somebody that wants to harm any one of our students can never do it again.”